Short video-sharing app TikTok suffers fresh blow as Canada slaps ban

Canada has announced it is banning Chinese short video-sharing app, TikTok, from all government-issued mobile devices, reflecting widening worries from western officials over the Chinese-owned video sharing app.

Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, said there may or may not be further steps. “I suspect that as government takes the significant step of telling all federal employees that they can no longer use TikTok on their work phones, many Canadians from business to private individuals will reflect on the security of their own data and perhaps make choices,” Trudeau said.

“I’m always a fan of giving Canadians the information for them to make the right decisions for them.”

A TikTok spokesperson said in a email: “It’s curious that the government of Canada has moved to block TikTok on government-issued devices without citing any specific security concern or contacting us with questions only after similar bans were introduced in the EU and the US.”

European Parliament follows

The European Parliament has decided to ban TikTok from staff phones for security reasons, an EU official said on Tuesday, the latest EU institution to do so.

The ban will also apply to private devices with Parliament email and other network access installed on them, the official said, adding that the decision is expected to be announced soon. 

The European Commission and the EU Council last week banned TikTok from staff phones, underlining growing concerns about the company owned by Chinese firm ByteDance and whether China’s government could use its app to harvest users’ data or advance its interests.

White House on a deadline

The White House is giving all federal agencies 30 days to wipe TikTok off all government devices, as the Chinese-owned social media app comes under increasing scrutiny in Washington over security concerns.

The White House already does not allow TikTok on its devices.

“The Biden-Harris Administration has invested heavily in defending our nation’s digital infrastructure and curbing foreign adversaries’ access to Americans’ data,” said Chris DeRusha, the federal chief information security officer.

Ticked Off

India

Banned TikTok and dozens of other apps by Chinese developers on all devices in June 2020

Pakistan

Banned the app at least four times, with the latest ban ending in November

Taiwan

Banned it and some other Chinese apps on state-owned devices in December 2022

US

Congress passed a Bill in December 2022 to ban the app on federal devices Educational institutions

Boise State University, University of Oklahoma, University of Texas-Austin, and West Texas A&M University are some institutes to ban TikTok on devices